Milk metering device



Sept. 4, 1951 E. B. KNAGGS 7 MILK METERING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet l FiledJune 50. 1947 Fig.

Fig.5.-

r 0 l H m I U I E/Ian B. Knaggs Sept. 4, 1951 E. B. KNAGGS MILK METERINGDEVICE 3' Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 30. 1947 Inventor E Iron 8. KnqggsE. B. KNAGGS MILK METERING DEVICE Sept. 4, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet :5

Filed June 50, 1947 Inventor 0 MA a m E w Patented Sept. 4, 1951 EltonB. Knaggs, Lapeer, Mich.

Application June 30, 1947, Serial No. 758,123

4 Claims. ,1

This invention relates to a milking meter and more particularly to anattachment for use .in com unctionwith convention-a1 milking machines toenable the user to determine the quantity of milk being given bya milk{producing animal.

Milk measuring devices are known to. be com- :.mon in the art,particularly of the type employing a measuringreceptacle as disclosed inPatent No. 1,519,827 issued .Decembcrlfi, .1924, to James W. Fuge.Whilesuch devices have been found admirably to serve their purpose asmeasuring devices, theobjection to the use of .such is round in that themilk leaving the cows udder must come to. repose in a container beforeit i delivered to the milker pail in order that the quantity oi.;.m-ilkdelivered may be determined. Since it is well. recognized that milkshould be refrigerated as soon after leaymg the udder as possible, it"is evident that any delay in its transit from the cows udder to themilker pail tends to defeat the rapid refrigeration of theimilk.

lt,.-is-an objectof thisinvention to enablethe "quantity of milk givenbya milk producing anianal-to be measured without inanyway delayingvitsdelivery from theudder to. the milker pail.

Another object-is to facilitate the cleansing and .sterilizationof the,parts which contact the hind milk ;so as to preserve the sanitaryconditions under which the milk is handled.

The above and other objects may be attained by employing this inventionwhich embodies amongits features a fluid driven motor adapted to .beinterposedbetween the teat cups and the milker pail of .a conventionalmilking machine,

an indexed dial carried by the fluid driven motor z and an index pointerdriven ,by the motor and operating over the iaceflof the dial toindicate the quantity of milk given '=by'the .animal being :milked'.

Other features include isolating the .motor.im.

:-'stantially along the line 3-3 of Figurei2, 7

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line4-4 of Figure 2 Figure 5 is a sectional view taken substantially alongthe line 5-5 of Figure 2 on a somewhat reduced scale,

Figure 6 is .a sectional View on a reducedscale takenssubstantiallyalong the line 6-6 of-Flgure 2,

Figure F7 a .iragmentary plan view of the milk meter, showing portionsbroken away more clearly to illustrate certain details of constructlon,and

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure '7, showing the. re-settlng shaftin a different position.

Referring to the drawings in detail, a milking machine It is equippedwith :a conventional vacurum pipe II which is connected throughazflexihle hose to a. conventional milkerpail l3 carrying a conventionalmilk-er pulsator 14 which is coupled through the air tubes 15 ofconventional form to the teat cups l6. These cups are con- .nected in :aconventional manner to a conventional milk tube -11 through which themilk is normally delivered into the milker pail.

In order that the quantity of milk-given by a milk producing animalmaybe measured as it is introduced into the milker pail, I connect to themilk inlet. of a milker pail, my improved milk meter designatedgenerally 18 to the inlet :side of which :is coupled the end of the milktube -|1 previously referred to.

The milk meter l8 previously referred to comprises a hollow body I9having a front wall 20 .anda back wall 2L The front wall 20 is fittedwith a dial plate 22 carrying on its exposed face an annular rowofspaced indices the purpose of which will hereinafter appear. Atransparent cover 23 encloses the face of the dial 22 and extendingaxially through the dial is a shaft 24 carrying at one end anindexpointerorhand 25 which is adapted to move over the face of the dialto cooperate with the indices thereon .in indicating the quantity ofmilk delivered'from a milk producing animal to the milker pail l3.

Extending through the rear wall 2| of the casing 19 is an opening 26 inwhich an outwardly extending cylindrical sleeve 2 .is fixed. A driveshaft .28 extends through the sleeve :21 into the housing 19 and carriesat its outer end an impeller'screw v2-9 which isadaptedto be contactedby the inflowing milk to cause the shaft 28 to be rotated by the movingfluid. Fixed to the shaft 28 intermediate its ends ;is a lantern gear3!) 'whichis coupled through a train .of speed reducing gears and'pinions designated generally 3-l to a drive pinion 32 which is mountedto rotate near the front wall 20 of the casing in a suitable supportingframe 33. The shaft 24 previously described is mounted for rotation andlongitudinal An idler pinion 31 is mounted to rotate on the frame 33 ina position to mesh with the pinion 35 when the shaft 24 is shiftedlongitudinally against 2 the effort of the spring 36 and fixed to rotateabout the axis of the idler gear 31 is a pinion 38, the purpose of whichwill be more fully hereinafter described. 1

Mounted for rotational and longitudinal sliding movement in a pair ofspaced brackets 39 carried by the frame 33 is a resetting shaft 49 oneend of which projects through the side of the casing 19 and carries aknurled thumb-piece 4|. The axis of the shaft 40 intersects the axis ofthe shaft 24 and formed in the shaft 40 adjacent the point ofintersect-ion of the said axes is an annular groove 42 opposite ends ofwhich are conical in form so that when the shaft 40 is moved outwardlyin the brackets 39 the shaft 24 will be shifted longitudinally to movethe gear 34 out of mesh with the idler gear 31. A crown gear 43 is fixedto the shaft 40 between the pinion 38 and the groove 42 so that as thepinion 35 meshes with the idler gear 31," the crown gear 43 will meshwith the pinion 38 and hence upon-rotating the shaft 40 the hand orindex pointer 25 will be moved over the face of the dial 22 to reset thepointer.

Extending outwardly from the back wall 2| in spaced parallel relation tothe bushing 21 are posts 43' fittedon the outer ends of which areclamping nuts 44. A clamp plate '45 is supported on the posts 43' and isprovided with an axial opening for the reception ofthe reduced end 47 ofa hollow substantially dome-shaped cover 48, the enlarged end of whichseats against a gasket 49 which bears against the outer face of the backwall 2| in concentric spaced relation to the bushing 21. Formed in theback wall 2| is a milk discharge opening '59 which extends radiallythrough the casing l9 and has fitted in the end opposite that openingthrough the back wall 2| a nipple which is externally screw'threaded asat 52 for connection to a'suitable fitting 53 which leads to the milkintake opening of the milker pail l3. Entering the reduced end of thecover 48 is a tubular nipple 54 to which the discharge end of the milktube I1 is adapted to be coupled. It will thus be seen that milkdischarged through the milk tube will be introduced into the cover 48around the impeller 29, causing the same to rotate the shaft 28 anddrive the gear train 29 and shaft 24 to move the index hand over thedial 22. The flowing milk is then discharged through the passage 59,nipple 5| and coupling 53 to the milk receiving openingof the milkerpail l3 so that the volume of milk passing into the milker pail may beregistered on the dial.

In use, the coupling 53 is connected to the milker pail milk inletopening and the milk tube I1 is coupled to the nipple 54 so that as themilk is drawn through the milk tube |1 it m'ust'enter 4 the chamberformed by the cover 48 and back wall 2| to flow past the impeller 29,and thereby drive the shaft 28. Obviously, when it is desired to cleanthe milk passages, the nuts 44 are re- 5 moved from the studs 43, thusloosening the plate 45 and relieving the pressure of the cover 48against the gasket 49 so as to permit the cover to be removed from theback wall 2|. Owing. to the flared contour .of the, cover it is Obviousthatit is readily accessible, for cleaning and sterilizing and since theback wall 2| presents a fiat surface except for the bushing 27, theparts coupled to the gear train and index hand easily may be cleansedand sterilized. Likewise,

the passage 50 is rendered accessible for easy cleaning and the entiredevice may be kept in a sanitary condition, with a minimum amount oflabor. When it is desired to determine the quantity of milk produced byan individual animal it is only necessary to exert pull on the knob 4|and rotatethe shaft 40 to turn the index pointer or hand to zero on thedial, Having set the pointer to zero, the shaft 49' is returned to itsoriginal position so as to reconnect the pointer 25 shaft 24 to the geartrain. -When the milking starts, the fluid milk will drive the impeller29, thus driving the gear train 3| and shaft 24 to move the hand 25 overthe-face of the dial 22. When the full quantity of milk has beendelivered to the milker pail, its volume may be determined by noting theposition of the hand on the dial.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferredembodiment .of this invention it is to be understood that minor changesin the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts maybe'resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as claimed.

Having described the invention, what is claimed -10 as new is:

1. In combination with a milking system including a group of'teat cups,a milkerpail, a milker pulsatordisposed on said milker pail, air tubesinterconnecting said milker pulsator and teat-cups, and a milk tubeinterconnecting said teat cups and milker pail for delivering milk fromthe teat cups 'to the milker pail,;metering means for determining thequantity of milk flowing through the conduit means, said metering meansbeing interposed in the milk tube between said teat cups and said milkerpail and including a casing and an impeller rotatably supported therein,said milk tube directing the flow of milk against said impeller, andindicating means as- 55 sociated with said impeller for indicating theamount of fluid passing through the milk tube. H 2. In combination witha milking system including a group of teat cups, a'milkerpail, a milkerpulsator disposed on said milker pail, air tubes interconnecting saidmilker pulsator and teat cups, and a milk tube interconnecting said teatcups and milker pail for delivering milk from the teatcups to the milkerpail, metering means for determining the quantity of milk flowingthrough the conduit means, said metering means being interposed in themilk tube between said teat cups and said milker pail and including acasing and an impeller rotatably supported therein, said milk tubedirecting the flow of milk against said impeller, and indicating meansassociated with said impeller for indicating the amount of fluid passingthrough the milk tube. said last named means including a dial disposedat the exterior of said casing, a pointer rotatably mounted on the faceof the dial and a gear train operatively connected between the impellerand pointer.

3. In combination with a milking system including a group of teat cups,a milker pail, a milker pulsator disposed on said milker pail, air tubesinterconnecting said teat cups and milker pail for delivering milk fromthe teat cups to the milker pail, metering means for determining thequantity of milk flowing through the conduit means, said metering meansbeing interposed in the milk tube between said teat cups and said milkerpail and including a fluid driven motor, an indexed dial and an indexpointer driven by the motor and operating over the face of the dial toindicate the quantity of milk given by the cow being milked.

4. In combination with a milking system including a group of teat cups,a milker pail, a milker pulsator disposed on said milker pail, air tubesinterconnecting said teat cups and milker pail for delivering milk fromthe teat cups to the milker pail, metering means for determining thequantity of milk flowing through the conduit means, said metering meansbeing interposed in the milk tube between said teat cups and said milkerpail and including a fluid driven motor, an indexed dial and an indexpointer driven by the motor and operating over the face of the dial toindicate the quantity of milk given by the cow being milked, andresetting shaft carried by the motor and shiftable longitudinally alongits own axis for disconnecting the pointer from the motor and resettingthe hand to zero when the milking of a cow has been completed.

ELTON B. KNAGGS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

